Chopin Waltz in E minor posth help

[acha114]

Hi there, does anyone have the correct way to practice the last page of Chopin Waltz in E minor posth? The part that I have difficulty with is from bar 151 onwards to the end of the piece. My problem is that I cannot play the right hand accurately and up to speed when the left hand is jumping around playing chords.

[quantum]

Memorize the RH so you can play without looking at it.  Concentrate your eyes on your LH jumps. 

A lot of the RH part in the coda is formed around chords, usually one per bar.  Practice playing the RH in solid chords, and make sure you pay attention that your fingers learn their position in the chords.  Then practice RH solid chords plus LH.  Now when you go to play the RH single notes, always try to keep your fingers in the formation of the chord, so the notes you need to play are directly beneath them. 

[cjp_piano]

I agree with everything Quantum said, right on!

Also, once you memorize the RH part and practice it in the chord positions and play it with the LH playing RH chord position, put hands back together as written, but make sure you do it FAST, just a little bit at a time.  Don't just practice the whole section slowly (of course you can play it if it's slow).  Practice just one measure, or even just a few notes, as you put hands together.  Make sure you do it fast though, just a little bit at a time, and then add the next beat or previous beat, etc.

Make sense? 

[lostinidlewonder]

Practice without the jumps. The lowest bass note in the LH only together with the RH. Then play the LH chords only without the lowest bass note with the RH. THen practice it as normal.

[pianistimo]

great advice from everyone.  chopin is my nemisis,too.  but, i decided a year ago to just try again.  people with longer fingers will never know the brain wracking frustration of those large leaps he put in.  having a method to compete with the low self-confidence certain people have with chopin (myself included) makes you feel like a real pianist. 

my teacher also showed me that with chopin etudes, if you have a large leap from a white note (bottom) to a black note (top) in either hand, you can sort of angle the straight line so that your finger isn't completely at the tip of the black key.  this was a revelation to me because of missing notes.  also, he said you can use more of the pinky - slightly crossed over (X) the black note for fuller sound.  i always tried to make my finger straight with the keys - but a slight x is helpful.

agreed so much about focusing on the left hand, too, with the jumps.  maybe practicing first with no jumps, as lostinidle said - and then working quantum's way.  this is very good advice for teachers because students can get frustrated trying to do everything the first week.  i look forward to practicing chopin now because i have some methods to use.